Mellom skogkledde aaser

Kampfar is one of the best, if not THE best, viking pagan metal bands and to prove that statement true nothing better than just listening to this album.

With Mellom Skogkledde Aaser the viking spirit is represented at high quality levels.

There are screams as the intro, then you can hear the guitars and the bass adding an extreme viking atmosphere since as the riffs keep changing denoting movement the bass guitar keeps marking one note picturing the background for guitars and lyrics together. These elements are also common in minimalistical bands such as Darkthrone, Ulver (granted... the old stuff), old Satyricon; but in this case, KAMPFAR adds an extra viking dose to chill your blood and get you spellbound even if viking metal isn't your style.

The drum work is not bad at all, while the guitars are simply great when accompanied by the bass. Dolk's voice is one of my favorite voices in the scene, it's harsh yet not screechy.

Although it's realy hard to decide for the best song the one I think I like the most is Hymne. It starts with viking chants and switches rhythms all throughout its length, first it's slow, then gets fast and then even faster till it reaches its climax and then you get the viking chants to close the song, this time longer than at the beginning.

This album is my favorite album by KAMPFAR, not only for its length, but also for its thematics, the musical concept and the performance in general. I think this is when Kampfar really reached their potential.

After the coming to light of this album, KAMPFAR will have to make a big effort to surpass the excellence they reached in this feature. In other words, with Mellom Skogkledde Aaser KAMPFAR raised the bar to high, not only for themselves but also for the whole genre.